Patents-101

Remember the adage, "Invention is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration?" Sadly, that is 100 percent true. New ideas are as common as Denver Bronco fans in Western Dakota. It's what happens after the concept's inception that really counts.

Let's say you have conceived a wonderful invention that will make every pet owner's life much easier. It will whir, it will spin but most important of all, it will make yards, litter boxes and cages clean forevermore. Yes, you have the initial concept for the Pooper Poofer. You are convinced this flash of genius will make you millions of dollars. The question is, "Where do you go next?"

It is necessary for you to have more than the idea. You will need the basic mechanical knowledge to put your vision into reality. Before you start investing your 99 bottles of perspiration, though, you should go get yourself a notebook. This is going to be your invention journal. In it you will date and document all of thre steps you are about to take. Once every week or two, you should get at least two people to sign and date it. It is important that hey read it and understand what it says. This journal will help you prove the invention is yours if someone else has the same idea at a later date.

While you are working on the basic mechanics, you should conduct an informal market assessment. Run the idea past a few folks to see if they would buy it. Prototypes and patents are expensive. You don't want to throw a bunch of money into something if it isn't going to sell. At the same time, you should start scouting around to see if there is anything similar on the market.

During this initial research phase, you will need to determine how your Poofer will be manufactured. Will you license the manufacturing and distribution rights to an established company? Will you set up your own plant?Will you contract the manufacturing and to the financing, sales and management withing your own company? How much will it cost to manufacture? What will the retail price be? How does it stack up against the competition?

If all indicators are still favorable, you will need to make a working prototype. You can do this on your own or you can hire someone else to make it for you. If you do hire the work out, be sure to have the outside party sign a non-disclosure agreement. This will protect you just in case your prototype makers decide to manufacture their own version of your million-dollar baby.

You know your Poofer is 1)new and 2) it has a specific use. These are the two qualifiers a product must meet in order to be worthy of a patent. A patent will protect you from having other copy your idea. It also will give you comfort that no other similar products are lying dormant in some company's closet waiting to bit you with an expensive law suit.

Most patents fall into one of two types: utility patents or design patents. According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, a utility patent protects useful processes, machines, articles of manufacture, and compositions of matter. Examples include fiber optics\optics, computer hardware and medications. A design patent is defined as a means to guard the unauthorized use of new, original and ornamental designs for articles of manufacture, such as the look of an athletic show, a bicycle helmet or the Star Wars characters.

Clearly, the patent you need to apply for is of the utility ilk. Utility patents offer the broadest coverage and are relatively expensive. As might be expected, the application is difficult for the lay person. Some inventors choose to prepare the documents themselves. Unless you have a background in intellectual property law however, it is probably better to use a patent attorney or agent. These folks are registered to practice before the US>S. Patent & Trademark Office. They also will make sure you have the broadest patent protection. If you want to save money, fill out the forms yourself, then take them to the patent attorney for review and additions.

The patent process begins with a search. Hire a patent attorney or agent to plod through the tombs of patents to see if there are others out there that are similar. This will be done at a Patent & Trademark Depository Library. Our stat's PTDL is located in the Devereaux Library of the South Dakota Schools of Mines & Technology.

As mentioned before, submitting a utility patent application is not a walk in the park. It is technical and complicated. Distilled down, there are six parts:

• a patent application transmittal form
• a fees transmittal form
• specifications drawings (when neccessary)
• oath of declaration and sequence listings (when necessary)
• declaration of claims

Patents take a long time to process. The US Patent and Trademark Office receives over 200,000 applications a year. Some are intensely technical. Consequently, it usually takes around a year for your application to be reviewed. Ti takes up to three years to have your patent officially granted. After you have submitted your application however, you can use the words "patent pending" on all of your presentations.

If you are in a hurry because you feel your product is time-sensitive, but you aren't ready to do the final application, you can file a provisional patent application. It is much less formal. You don't have to fill out the claims and it is less expensive than a full patent. But a patent it is not. You will have a year to file the formal patent or the provisional patent application will be thrown out. A provisional patent application also allows you to use the words "patent pending" on your product. Incidentally, it is illegal to use th words "patent pending" if a formal or provisional patent application has not been filed.

Another thing to keep in mind is that patents are for new products. You won't be able to get a patent on your invention if you have sold it for more than a year or if you have published information about it in trade journals, online or in news[a[letters. Obviously, you will have to tell some people about it for market research, prototypes and testing. You might want to present it to manufacturers to query their interest. The key words here are "common domain". You don't want to spread your idea around all over the world because that will put it in the kingdom of "common domain" and once there, it is not patentable.

If you use an attorney, the average cost for a patent is around $5,000 to $6,000. A utility patent is good for 20 years; a design patent for 14. They are not renewable. So it is wise to do your homework and have your business and marketing plans in place before you apply.

I would like to insert a word of caution about invention-marketing companies. The words "inventions wanted" or "we will turn your ideas into cash" should run shivers of doubt up your spine.

These firms entice inventors with promises of huge royalties, manufacturing contracts and sales and distribution channels. Many times, they also offer to conduct the entire patent process for you. In exchange, you front them several thousand dollars. If the patents materialize at all, they may offer little protection.

The bad guys in the invention-marketing world prey on people's dreams. They know things that the average inventor doesn't. The inventor either is too busy or to intimidated to learn the business side of his or her invention. Consequently, he or she becomes an easy mark. Do your homework.

If you are tempted to use an invention-marketing company, check them out first. Ask them for the names and telephone numbers of their past and present clients. Ask them to disclose their success rate. Check with the Better Business Bureau in their practicing state.

The US Patent and Trademark Office has a boatload of information. The best place to start is to request their free "Basic Facts about Patents" booklet. It is #GIS-5010P-PP. You can write them at USPTO, General Information Services, Crystal Plaza 3, Room 2C02, Washington DC 20231. You can call in your request (800)-PTO-9199 pr fax (703) 305-7786. Far better, however, it to hop on the Internet and type in http://www.uspto.gov.